EconStor Collection:http://hdl.handle.net/10419/55362
Tue, 26 Sep 2017 21:55:28 GMT2017-09-26T21:55:28ZInnovation pathways and trajectories in India's auto component industryhttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/163554
Title: Innovation pathways and trajectories in India's auto component industry
Authors: Tiwari, Rajnish; Kalogerakis, Katharina
Abstract: India's automotive sector has grown tremendously in the post-liberalization period. The growing domestic market, increased export opportunities and greater emphasis of vehicle manufacturers on high-quality, innovative solutions have created a context for component suppliers to ramp up their innovation capabilities as well. For about past 20 years the auto component industry has consistently acted as a key enabler of various frugal vehicles launched in India. Our multi-level and multi-approach study, making use of firm and sector-level data while combining case studies with expert interviews, seeks to investigate the prevalent innovation pathways and trajectories in India's Auto Component Industry. The results indicate that firms often engage in designing and developing components making use of modern, digital technologies, and manage to reach very high levels of process and resource efficiency. The huge domestic market, and the rising global demand, for affordable, high quality products provide good incentives for investments and openness for external knowledge. Cooperation between Indian and global companies as well as mergers and acquisitions have accelerated the development of innovation capabilities in India. The focused approach on developing concrete applications within requisite parameters gives rise to "appropriate solutions" that balance economic, ecological and technological performance. The study discovered a remarkable set of innovation pathways that makes use of collaborative development, avoids over-engineering and is often driven by economies of scale. All this is also stimulated by the state that developed into a key promoter of innovations.Sun, 01 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/1635542017-01-01T00:00:00ZFrugal innovation in Germany: A qualitative analysis of potential socio-economic impactshttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/156688
Title: Frugal innovation in Germany: A qualitative analysis of potential socio-economic impacts
Authors: Tiwari, Rajnish; Fischer, Luise; Kalogerakis, Katharina
Abstract: Frugal innovation is gaining traction globally, not only in emerging economies, but also in the industrialized world. The root causes of frugality's acceptance as a societal value may however differ according to the social context, especially between the developing and the developed world. In this paper we present the results of a trend analysis in Germany that has been conducted as a part of a BMBF-supported project aiming to investigate "Potentials, Challenges and Societal Relevance of Frugal Innovations in the Context of Global Innovation Competition". The research was conducted in two steps. In a first step preliminary insights were generated by an extensive literature review and 3 focus groups with 30 experts discussing the relevance of frugal innovation for Germany. These insights were then verified in 20 semi-structured interviews with additional experts from cross-sections of the German society. The experts opined that frugal products and services (should) focus on the customers' core needs and reduce unnecessary complexity while adhering to high quality standards. They predicted a trend towards frugal solutions in Germany due to a complex interplay of various factors. One notable factor was a growing appreciation of moderation and voluntary simplicity by parts of the German society leading to "frugal choices". The second widespread consensus was that frugal innovations are necessary to secure long-term competitiveness of German companies in fast-growing, unsaturated markets in the emerging economies. Several challenges were pointed out concerning the actual implementation of frugal concepts in the product development process. An overwhelming reliance on high tech-driven and complexity-embracing innovation pathways by engineers in German firms was characterized as a powerful obstacle in implementing frugality.Sun, 01 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/1566882017-01-01T00:00:00ZInnovationspfade in der deutschen Automobilzulieferindustrie: Eine Untersuchung aus der Frugalitätsperspektivehttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/157924
Title: Innovationspfade in der deutschen Automobilzulieferindustrie: Eine Untersuchung aus der Frugalitätsperspektive
Authors: Bergmann, Stephan; Tiwari, Rajnish
Abstract: Frugale Innovationen werden oftmals in Verbindung mit Schwellenländern genannt, jedoch zeigen erste Studien, dass diese auch zunehmend an Relevanz in Industrienationen gewinnen. In diesem Arbeitspapier präsentieren wir die Ergebnisse verschiedener, durchgeführter Teilstudien zur Analyse der Innovationspfade in der deutschen Automobilzulieferindustrie und erläutern die Bedeutung frugaler Innovationen für die deutsche Automobilzulieferindustrie. Die deutsche Zulieferindustrie zeichnet sich insbesondere durch intensive Aktivitäten in den Bereichen Innovation sowie Forschung und Entwicklung aus. Der erste Teil der Forschungsarbeit beinhaltet eine umfangreiche Literaturanalyse und befasst sich mit der Durchführung von sechs Fallstudien sowie einer Patentanalyse zur Bestimmung der Innovationspfade und prägender Innovationsmerkmale. Die Fallstudien und die Patentanalyse beziehen sich auf den untersuchten Zeitraum von 2010 bis 2015. Der zweite Teil der Forschungsarbeit befasst sich mit der Validierung der Ergebnisse durch semistrukturierte Interviews. Hierzu wurden neun Experten mit insgesamt sechs unterschiedlichen Hintergründen befragt. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit zeigen wichtige Einflussfaktoren auf die Innovationsaktivitäten auf und deuten darauf hin, dass die Frugalität in der deutschen Automobilzulieferindustrie eine durchaus wichtige Rolle einnimmt. Insbesondere sind hierbei die Erschwinglichkeit und die einfachere Gestaltung der Komponenten zu nennen. Die Aussagen der interviewten Industrieexperten stimmen mit diesen Ergebnissen überein und weisen auf das beachtliche Potential frugaler Innovationen in der deutschen Zulieferindustrie hin.Sun, 01 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/1579242017-01-01T00:00:00ZIndia's potential as a lead market for frugal innovation and the role of socio-cultural context factorshttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/144759
Title: India's potential as a lead market for frugal innovation and the role of socio-cultural context factors
Authors: Tiwari, Rajnish
Abstract: In recent years a phenomenon called "frugal innovation" has increasingly gained traction in the scholarly discourse; and as research reveals, it is often brought in connection with India. Apparently, India has quietly acquired the role of a pioneer for innovations that aim at combining affordability with excellence, cutting across sectoral boundaries. But what is it that makes India a forerunner for an innovation paradigm with increasing global relevance? In this paper, I propose that the "lead market" theory can explain to a quite good extent the attractiveness of India for frugal solutions. On one hand, there are concrete economic factors that give rise to resource-efficient and affordable solutions to problems faced in day-to-day life. On the other hand, frugality has been long regarded as a virtuous social value in India and the socio-cultural context of the country provides a fertile environment for the acceptance of frugal products and services on both demand and supply sides. This paper, apart from dwelling on the concept of lead markets and its application in the context of frugal innovations in India, also presents some qualitative results of an empirical survey conducted with participation of Indian students that underscore the role of culture as a key determinant for the acceptance of frugal innovation. The study indicates that frugality in India is often driven by financial considerations ("frugality 2.0"), but globally there are other, additional powerful drivers for frugal innovations, e.g. environmental concerns and rejection of status symbols. This makes a case for collaboration and cooperation between emerging and developed economies, such as India, Germany and Japan, to enable "affordable green excellence".Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/1447592016-01-01T00:00:00Z